Family Time
by WhisperWeeper
Summary: Just a short story about China when he was taking care of Taiwan, Japan and Korea and what I would think would happen when China snaps from the pressure. Very cute and fluffy, a little depressing, please review!


"Dammit, stop destroying my house, aru!"

China's request was completely ignored by the three tiny countries running around him. Korea had a towel cape tied around his neck and he kept jumping on and off the couch onto a makeshift bed out of pillows. Taiwan had yanked all of the curtains down and wrapped them around herself in a dress-type fashion so she could pretend to be a Chinese princess. And finally, Japan had raided the kitchen and was threading an incredibly long string with pickled plums and radishes hanging on it.

You could practically see the steam floating off of the livid Chinese man. His face was pink with frustration and his fists were clenched by his sides. He couldn't take all the screaming and laughing and running and jumping . . .

China snapped.

"That's it, aru! I give p!" He threw his hands up in the air angrily. "You three do not know how to act properly at all, aru! All you do every day is run around my house and make a mess, you never clean it up and you never _ever_ listen to me! I'm sick of it, aru!"

The three tiny countries were all huddled together now in fear from the much larger countries wrath. China either didn't notice or didn't care as he continued his rampage, pacing back and forth and pointing at them. "This is the last straw—I'm putting my foot down, aru! I'm taking none of you anywhere nor am I getting you anything until you clean up my house! And show me some goddamn respect, too, aru!"

China turned and stalked away from them, heading for the back porch. Seething, he didn't notice Japan's string until it was too late. His foot catching on the thread, China found himself stumbling forward and face-planting the hard wood floor. A sharp pain shot through his jaw and tears stung in his eyes.

"Brother Yao!" Taiwan squeeed in alarm, taking a small step towards him. Korea burst out in unstoppable laughter and doubled over, Japan staying silent beside him. China propped himself up onto his knees and held his chin. Embarrassment enflamed his cheeks and he couldn't stop the tears from burning down his face. Scrambling to his feet, he ran outside and onto the porch, slamming the door behind him.

China moved down to his right to sit at the end of the porch. Bringing his knees up to his chest, he buried his face in his arms.

_How stupid am I, aru?_ He thought miserably. _I can't even scold them properly without making a fool of myself! They're never going to respect, aru . . ._

The Asian country must have sulked on the porch for hours—making his chest ache—because by the time he lifted his head the sun was already setting. His stomach growled and he clutched at it, leaning up against the side of his house. He was starving but as he glanced over to the door he was suddenly reluctant to go back inside. He didn't feel ready to face the three little countries yet.

Just as he was about to put his head back down, a wash of light shined across the darkened yard as the porch door opened. A tiny head with long black hair poked out and looked at him. "B-Brother Yao?" Taiwan's voice was small and slightly frightened as she half stepped out onto the wood platform—not willing to get too close to him. "When are you going to come back inside?"

China just looked away shamefully, his cheeks reddening. _I feel pathetic, aru,_ he thought. _I'm acting like a child by staying out here._ Despite his degrading internal self-esteem, he didn't want to move.

Taiwan glanced behind her into the house before running back inside, leaving the door open. China sighed and buried his face again—mortified at the fact that not even his adorable little Taiwan wanted to come near him. Right before he was about to cry again, he heard the pitter patter of small feet coming towards him and he looked up to see Taiwan walking to him with a giant tray in her tiny arms. The tray had a plate of three rice balls, pieces of sliced salmon and a cup of steaming tea balanced carefully on it.

China's wet eyes widened as the pink girl set the tray down next to him. "Here, brother, you must be very hungry. You've been out here a long time," Taiwan said, straightening up.

"How long?" the Asian country asked, his voice cracking slightly from lack of use. He cleared his throat and looked at the food, his stomach grumbling again.

Taiwan thought for a moment before saying quietly, "About six hours."

He believed it. China tried to flatten his legs down and all he could hear were his old bones cracking, same for when he tried to stretch his stiff back. He glanced up at the country standing beside him. He held open his arms to her, smiling a little. "Come here, Mae."

She smiled with relief and ran over to him, wrapping her little arms around his neck, happy that he wasn't angry or depressed anymore. China hugged her tightly to him, letting the small country comfort him. He petted her soft hair, peaking over her flowers to see the other two countries inching their way out onto the porch, looking nervous. His smile grew and he shifted Taiwan so he could hold out his left arm towards them. Korea grinned and ran to him, flying over the tray of food to scramble up his arm and perch on his shoulders. He happily tugged on China's hair as he hugged his head, making the older man laugh. Japan was much more subtle with his hug, coming over and quietly nestling under the country's still outstretched arm.

China chuckled lightly as the pain in his chest washed away as he held the tiny countries. Taiwan lifted her head up, pointing at the food. "Aren't you going to eat, brother?" she questioned.

"What about you, did you all make yourselves something?" China asked, sitting Japan on his lap so he could grab a rice ball.

Taiwan looked down in embarrassment. "No . . ." she admitted slowly.

"You're always telling us that it's bad manners if children eat before their elders," Japan murmured, tilting his head up to look at him with bright black eyes.

China heard Korea's stomach growl behind his head. "Plus, Mae wouldn't let us eat!" he whined loudly in the man's ear, frowning down at his sister. Taiwan stuck her tongue out at him.

The older country smirked and handed the rice ball to the hungry Korean. "Here you go, aru," he said, handing the rest of the rice balls to the other two countries. He picked up the pair of chopsticks on the tray and delicately lifted a piece of salmon to his mouth. He gestured with the chopsticks for them to begin eating. "We can share the meal, aru."

The three countries all said thank you in their own languages before greedily taking bites of the rice. China expertly maneuvered around Japan to reach the rest of his salmon, taking the small pieces and eating them or sharing with the others. Korea broke off a piece of his rice ball, holding it down in front of his mouth so the Chinese man could eat it. China rewarded him by letting him have the first drink of tea.

After a few minutes the tray was completely empty of food and the tea was gone from its cup. China sighed in content, leaning against the side of the house and using Korea and a pillow. He let Taiwan climb onto his other leg and he wrapped his arms around both her and her brother. "Arigatō for the meal, brother," Japan said, allowing Taiwan to snuggle into his side.

"No, thank you, aru," China said happily, patting Taiwan's head. He glanced over to see that the sun had finally set and the night was upon them, bringing with it a cool breeze.

Korea reached his little arm down to grab China's hand, holding it against his small soft cheek. "We also cleaned up the house, Aniki! It was really hard to do without your help!"

"Well, good," China said, looking up into his dark brown eyes. "It teaches you responsibility. If _you_ make a mess then _you_ clean it up, aru." Korea pouted for a second before nodding and resting his head into China's hand. He yawned and rested himself on the man's head.

China looked down at the other two countries to see that they, too, were yawning and snuggling closer to him. He tightened his grip on them, his sleeves acting as blankets against the chill, and he leaned his head back again. Pride filled him and he was unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. _They're not so bad, aru,_ he thought, admitting that the three could be cute when they wanted. He closed his eyes, still smiling. _From now on they are my family so I need to accept the fact that there's going to be days like this. _He sighed, feeling sleep pull at him. _I never want to have to yell at them or hurt them ever again. I hope we can stay a family forever . . . _


End file.
